This invention is an improved dryer-cleaner apparatus and process having a primary use and benefit in cotton gins. The combination apparatus is intended to be positioned in a cotton gin adjacent the beginning of the ginning process for the purposes of enhancing the drying of the raw cotton and more efficiently removing trash. The ultimate goals are to increase output or xe2x80x9cturnoutxe2x80x9d and to improve the quality or grade of the final cotton product. The invention also includes a new and novel design for grid fingers for the dryer that enhances the separation of trash from the cotton and minimizes the possibility of clogging of the dryer by the trash or cotton.
Cotton gins are the physical facilities that receive raw field seed cotton, its burrs and seed as well as dirt, plant stems, leaves and other trash for processing into a clean cotton fiber which is then baled for shipment to a textile plant. The existing processes and equipment contained in modern cotton gins are well depicted in the Cotton Ginners Handbook, Agricultural Handbook No. 503, of the United States Department of Agriculture, December 1994, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein in accord with the provisions of MPEP xc2xa7608.01(p)[R-1].
The conventional ginning process is summarily illustrated in FIG. 1 which is labeled xe2x80x9cPrior Art.xe2x80x9d It depicts a module 12 of field seed cotton bolls that were compacted in the field and brought to the cotton gin. A module feeder (not shown) fragments and disperses the compacted cotton 12 into the individual bolls and transmits them through a large diameter pipe and a rock and green boll trap (not shown) for delivery to a dryer 16. Prior to reaching the dryer 16, heated air from a fan and heater is also delivered to the cotton within the pipe. The purpose of the drying is to reduce the moisture content of the raw cotton to facilitate subsequent cleaning and removal of trash. This dried cotton is then drawn into another air duct for delivery to one (or, in many cases, two) cleaners 20 which remove a portion of the burrs, stems and other trash. As depicted, the cleaner 20 is an overhead, inclined cylinder type, although other types are used in various gins. These overhead cleaners 20 remove much of the trash from the cotton before it is passed to a stick or stick and burr extractor (not shown) that removes additional burrs, stems, and trash. From the extractor, additional heated air may be added to the system to dry the cotton down to a 6 or 7% moisture level before it reaches the gin stand 22 which separates the cotton fiber from the seed. From the gin stand 22, the cotton fiber is drawn into a pneumatic conveyor for transfer to one or more lint cleaners 24 which have the job of removing the remaining pin trash from the cotton before it is baled in the press 26.
In this typical gin process, it is well known that the lint cleaners, in removing the trash, break some of the fiber which becomes a fuzz like substance called motes that is removed with the trash. In addition, some of the broken fiber is not separated, but is carried to the bale press. The resulting known problems includes a fiber loss as well as a reduction in the grade of the cotton due to a shorter fiber length. Consequently, if more trash could be earlier removed so that the use of the lint cleaners could be reduced or minimized, both fiber output and cotton grade could be enhanced.
Another problem in this typical process results from the fact that after the drying step, the raw cotton is immediately transferred back into a high pressure, pnuematic conduit in which it is compacted. This compaction of the cotton results in further entrapment of the cotton trash within the fiber and renders the inclined cylinder cleaners less efficient thereby increasing the need for and use of the lint cleaners. The compaction also results is carrying trash through several additional steps to the lint clearer so as to increase the wear on the machinery and increase the horsepower requirements of the process.
To solve or minimize the above identified problems, the present invention includes a combination dryer-cleaner that enhances the trash removal problem at the beginning of the ginning process and minimizes the need for or use of multiple saw-type lint cleaners. Specifically, the combination includes a single unit dryer-cleaner assembly that enables the cotton to be more efficiently dried and then transmitted from the dryer to the cleaner without the use of piping, conduits or conveyers which would entrap the trash and render the cleaning far more difficult. The dryer-cleaner unit also includes a novel design of T shaped grid bars that enhance the drying process and avoid clogging of the air passages so as to maximize air flow and drying.
Accordingly, the objectives of this invention are to provide a product and process that solves the above identified problems and achieves one or more of the following results:
1. avoids compacting the cotton and entrapping trash therein after it has been dried for ginning;
2. enhances moisture removal and increases the drying efficiency by breaking apart compressed wads of field cotton and exposing more surface area;
3. more efficiently removes trash from the cotton at the beginning of the ginning process;
4. reduces waste and increases the quantity of cotton fiber obtained from the raw cotton;
5. reduces and minimizes the need to use lint cleaners which damage fiber length and quality and impose higher power requirements upon the ginning process;
6. reduces the wear upon fans and conduits and reduces the power requirements for ginning cotton by early removal of trash in the ginning process; and
7. improves the quality and grade of the cotton processed by the cotton gin.